Senior Minister: Reverend Molly Baskette

Molly has been with us since November 2003. A lifelong UCC’er, she earned her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 1996. She spent a year after graduation in service to the Casa San Jose Orphanage in Colima, Mexico where she found a second home. Though gringo by birth, she has adopted all things Mexican, from musica salsa to the tomato-and-chipotle kind. She was ordained upon her return from Mexico in 1998, when she went to serve a large suburban church on the North Shore for five years.

A native of Boston’s North End and Dorchester, Molly is glad to be serving Jesus in the heart of the city! She loves how small neighborhoods in big cities can bring people together in warm, creative ways. Her passions in ministry include leading service-oriented mission trips, community organizing for justice and peace work, and helping people discover ways to integrate a peaceful, moral and dynamic spirituality into their day-to-day lives. She lives and plays in Somerville with her husband Peter, son Rafael, and daughter Carmen.

Molly is currently taking medical leave from her position at FCS as she undergoes chemotherapy treatment for Ewing’s Sarcoma. She is blogging about her experience at revmolly.tumblr.com.

Support Pastor: Ian Holland

Ian came to First Church on July 1, 2010 to serve as pastor to the congregation for the duration of Rev. Baskette’s medical leave. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School in 2009. Previously he served as ministerial intern first at South Acton Congregational Church, and then at Payson Park Church, UCC in Belmont.

Ian grew up a Catholic in Cork City, Ireland. He arrived in America twenty years ago to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science at Northeastern University, Boston. In the years that followed, in addition to finding new ways to think about software engineering, he found the love of his life, Pamela. He also found a renewed relationship with God and Christ through his participation and membership in Old South Church in Boston. Little did he know it at the time, but becoming a deacon at Old South Church was the beginning of a journey of faith that now leads him to a life of  pastoral ministry. In 2007 he left his position as an executive in a local software company to enter seminary fulltime. And, while his Irish accent may fade in and out from time to time, his sense of humor has remained intact throughout these changes.

Ian and Pamela live with their two teenage children, son Nolan, and daughter Aine, in Westford, which is a gentle north-westerly commute from Somerville.

Church Administrator & Building Supervisor: Jamie Thompson

Jamie joined the staff of First Church in September 2008 and works in the newly renovated church office three days per week. In addition to producing the weekly church bulletins and bimonthly church newsletter, she manages the church’s administrative affairs and oversees building rentals. Prior to joining First Church, Jamie worked in the Stewardship and Development department of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Originally from southwestern Ohio, Jamie first arrived in Boston as a student and immediately fell in love with the city. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and philosophy from Boston College and has lived and studied abroad in Oxford, England and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Jamie also graduated from massage therapy school in July 2009 and currently resides in Brighton. Her passions include liberal religion, progressive politics, social justice, books and creative writing, holistic health and the mind/body/spirit connection, traveling, and parenting her twelve-year-old daughter, Sophia.

Music Director: Thom Whittemore

Thom came to First Church in 2005 and assumed the role of Music Director in 2007. He rehearses and conducts the choir, selects music for congregational singing, works with the Children’s Choir, and plans for the growth and development of the music program.

Thom has been active in church music since he was a boy in South Carolina. He has sung with such notable choirs as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus (under the direction of Robert Shaw), the Chancel Choir of the Cathedral of Christ the King, and the Classical Music Festival Chorus in Eisenstadt, Austria. Thom was previously the choir director at Pisgah Lutheran Church in Lexington, SC.

Thom holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of South Carolina and has studied choral conducting at New England Conservatory. He is a member of the American Choir Directors Association. Thom lives in Somerville with his husband, Tim.

Sunday School Teacher (Flying Hedgehogs): Missy Sturtevant

Missy moved to Somerville in 2007 and has been attending First Church since September 2009. She serves as the Sunday School teacher for the 7-year-old to 11-year-old class, also known as the Flying Hedgehogs. Missy is currently working on her Master of Social Work degree at Wheelock College, and she enjoys spending time with her cats and exploring Boston’s various thrift stores and coffee shops. Her dreams include professionally fighting for equal rights for all.

Nursery Attendant: Renae Saarela

Renae has over twenty years of childcare experience and has been working at First Church since October 2009. In her spare time, Renae enjoys reading, listening to music, going to the movies, and spending time with family and friends.
 
 

Church Custodian: Blanca Peña

Blanca Peña became the church custodian in February 2009. A native of El Salvador, she has been in the Boston area since 1993. Blanca keeps busy as mother to Graciela, Santiago, and Emily, cheering their many futbol games, and wife to José of 13 years. She loves to learn from different cultures and to keep growing as a person.

Community Minister: Rev. Kerrie Harthan

Kerrie is a native New Englander who grew up in Lynn and Ipswich, MA and Cape Elizabeth and Brunswick, ME. A Community Minister of daily discipleship, her ministry is one of breaking bread with those who would not darken the door of a church. She’s had many ministry adventures: University and parish ministry, seminary admissions, maritime ministry, boat building ministry, urban environmental ministry with the MassReLeaf Ministry Project and other groups seeking to save endangered urbanwilds of the Charles River Basin.

Kerrie is married to Gloria, and they love to brew beer, garden and gather with friends and family around a crackling fire (or a candle!) at their home. To those who are looking for a faith community she says “Every child needs a family. Every spiritual searcher needs spiritual kin. Every boat needs a safe harbor: First Church is my homeport. It is a welcoming and safe harbor for all.”

Community Minister: Rev. Laura Tuach

Reverend Laura S. Tuach is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and was ordained by the Essex Association of the United Church of Christ in 2001. After graduation, she served as a parish minister at the First Congregational Church in Winchester, MA. She then went on to work as the Associate Director of Partakers, a faith-based, non-profit organization committed to the advancement of restorative justice, rehabilitation, and healing transformation of both prisoners and society.

She now is the Assistant Director of Field Education at Harvard Divinity School, counseling students discerning a call to ministry and working with field education supervisors. She and her husband, Dave, live in Cambridge. She is a yoga practitioner and teacher, and has a daily Buddhist meditation practice.

Community Minister: Jason Donnelly

Jason has been a member of First Church since 1997. After completing his Master of Divinity at Andover Newton in 2001, Jason studied theology at Boston College, where he recently earned his Ph.D. Jason began the ordination process with First Church in 2004 and looks forward to a career serving the church as a pastor/scholar. He lives in Watertown with his wife Sue, daughter Ruby, and son Abraham.

Community Minister: Rev. Jeff VonWald

Jeff is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, where he now serves on staff in the office of Student Services. Jeff’s past experiences have included AmeriCorps team member, chaplaincy resident in a continuing care retirement community, and Protestant Chaplain at Tufts University. Jeff is especially interested in the shared work of building toward theological understandings that are both faithful to tradition and meaningful for us today, as well as the shared work of imagining how the way we do worship can be re-shaped to speak deeply to us in our own time. As a ministerial intern he helped implement the midweek jazz service at Old South Church in Boston, and now coordinates the monthly “re/New” gathering here at First Church, which blends new music from several genres with diverse spiritual practices and open reflection on pressing questions of faith. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys hiking and paddling, documentary films, and – it must be admitted – watching a lot of sports, especially anytime the Syracuse Orange teams are on.

Community Minister: James Matarazzo

Biography and photo coming soon.